Jason Godwin is a historian, journalist and travel writer. He has travelled extensively in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia and India; his first book, The Gunpowder Gardens: Travels through India and China in search of Tea, was shortlisted for the Thomas Cook Travel Book Awards, 1991, and his second, On Foot to the Golden Horn: A Walk to Istanbul, was the winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, 1993. He is also the author of several crime novels, and in 2007 was awarded the Edgar Award for Best Novel for The Janissary Tree.